[EXCLUSIVE] ‘TURN UP THE MUSIC’ PRODUCER, HARVEY MASON, JR., TALKS TO THE CHRIS BROWN BLOG!

Early last week, I had the pleasure of talking to 1/2 of The Underdogs and ‘Turn Up The Music’ producer, Harvey Mason, Jr. about the single, the video, working with Chris Brown and tons more! He’s worked with superstars like Britney Spears, Jennifer Hudson, Justin Timberlake, and most recently did some work with the late Whitney Houston. I was super nervous when he got on the phone… however I went right in for you guys and got him to dish on Chris! He was a really nice guy and his assistant Trina was very sweet!

Check out the full interview below!

Eric: How did The Underdogs’ relationship with Chris Brown begin?

Harvey: It actually began when he was 14 when we did work on his debut record ['Chris Brown']. We were actually some of the first people that he let in the studio on this first record. We’ve been working together for quite a while.

How is he different creative and hands on wise now, than he was back when he was 14?

He has a definite direction and vision for himself and he knows exactly what he wants and what he likes. When he was younger, he was reliant more on people around him to kind of lead him and guide him towards his sound, what songs were right for him and how he should sing. He really has control of all of that now. He really has a clear understanding of what he wants to be like, what he wants to sound like, and what type of artist he is, more-so than any other artist we’ve ever worked with. He’s just really really driven to excel and accomplish the things that he has in his mind, whether that be live performances and how every aspect of the stage looks or directing videos, how each shot goes down, or recording vocals, what ad-libs are like and what the track sounds like.. he’s just really involved and he understands what he wants to do.

Break down the process of recording a song with Chris Brown.

It’s different every time. Sometimes it’s a song that we have that we’ve written, that we want to play for Chris and we’ll go over to the studio or he’ll come to our studio and we’ll play him records and he’ll say, ‘I love that’, ‘Let’s change this’, ‘Let’s add that’. Sometimes it’s something that we’ve collaborated with another producer to make, and other times we’ll sit in the studio with Chris. It varies from song to song.

Are any of his methods unlike any other artist you’ve worked with?

Chris is an extremely hard worker. He works very late at night. He does not stop working. He works around the clock and he’ll work on multiple songs in a day, which is a little bit different. He’ll do three or four things in one session rather than just work on one song. He’s a very fast worker and he’s got an extremely, extremely good ear. If he hears something once, he can repeat it, and improve upon it.

What was the inspiration behind “Turn Up The Music”? 

We joined forces with another producer and kind of had to idea of doing an up-tempo track for Chris. We’d mostly done ballads or mid-tempos for him. So, this was a chance for us to step out of our creative box. This was a “feel good” song. We just made a record that people would want to sing along to, if you heard it in the car, the club, or with your friends. It’s not super-super deep and meaningful, it’s just about feeling good, having a good time, turn up the music! The inspiration was really Chris and how he does things full speed. His energy and passion with which he dances, sings and performs. We’re thinking about  live performances when we’re writing songs for Chris. ‘What would he do to this song?’, ‘How would he dance?’ He’d probably be flipping or flying over something.

How long did it take to record it?

We worked on the demo for a couple of days, and he recorded it in one night.

[HOLD! Chris called him during our interview!!!]

What did he say about the song when it was completed?

He was very excited as were the other people in the studio. When he played the song back, the reaction was really really great. He was dancing around and very excited. First time we heard it, we were like, “Sounds like a big record!”

Have you heard anything about the video for the single?

I was at the video shoot. It’s spectacular. There’s like 500 extras, club scenes, crazy characters, and there’s dance sections. It’s a combination of a Michael Jackson video with a modern day Chris Brown video. It’s just epic scenery, staging, and performances.

Will he perform at The Grammys?

He is performing at The Grammys. They announced it yesterday, and he’s performing ‘Turn Up The Music’.

Some fans wanted me to ask you about the comments they saw on Chris’ VEVO account alleging the ‘Turn Up The Music’ beat was taken from Nicky Romero. What’s your take on that?

When we started working on the song for Chris, some of the inspiration came from the guy named Fuego. He had some really unique ideas that we thought we could blend and bring to what we do. Some of the inspiration came from Chris and some of the ideas Fuego had musically, we integrated with what we do that created something special.

What can fans look forward to on his fifth album Fortune? What does it sound like?

It sounds amazing! There’s a lot of different styles of music but they’re all brought together by Chris’ vocals. He sounds really really strong, singing wise. He sounds probably the best he’s ever sounded. There’s tempo, there’s dance records and pop songs. There’s really a wide variety of stuff by some great producers. It’s a really great record. It’s probably one of my favorite new records that’s coming.

You recently told MTV that Chris Brown is this generation’s Michael Jackson. Could you elaborate on that?

For the kids that are coming up today, they look at Chris Brown like I looked at Michael Jackson. He can dance, he can sing, he’s bigger than life and he makes amazing records. I’m not gonna sit here and say that Chris is Michael Jackson, or he’s equal to Michael Jackson or he does anything like Michael Jackson. I’m just saying he’s the biggest and coolest artist to many kids in this generation. Just like when I was growing up, I was waiting up all night to see MJ’s new video that was coming out on MTV, just like my daughter is waiting to see this new Chris Brown video. That’s what I mean when I say he’s this generation’s Michael Jackson.

Could you tell me one thing that Chris would be embarrassed about if fans knew?

He would be very embarrassed if you guys all knew that all his tattoos are fake! They’re all drawn on. He draws them on once a week! Put that on the blog!! No, but I really haven’t seen anything that’s embarrassing though. He just works 24 hours a day. People would probably be surprised that he doesn’t party and go out and do stuff like that. His fans would be more surprised that he’s not the modern day Pop star, just hanging out and having fun. He goes from the rehearsal studio to the recording studio everyday. He practices his dancing, he practices his singing and he goes and records. If he has to make an appearance, he goes and does that and come right back. He called me on Sunday at like 1:00 AM, “I’m back in the studio. Let’s go! Bring that song up here!” That’s something that people wouldn’t expect from him.

Will The Underdogs and Chris Brown work together again?

Absolutely. We have a couple more songs we’re doing with him after this record. We’re really excited about the other material!

I cannot wait to see him perform that song [Turn Up The Music] at The Grammys!

I think the video comes out the day after [The Grammys]. That’s what I heard.

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Special thanks to Mr. Harvey for taking the time to talk to me last Tuesday (Feb 7). Follow him on Twitter @HarveyMasonJr!

MAKE SURE YOU PURCHASE ‘TURN UP THE MUSIC’ ON ITUNES!

- Eric

Source: TheChrisBrownBlog.com